FAQ: Store Closing @ 41st & Minnehaha

You’re closing the shop? YES! After 5+ years at 41st & Minnehaha, we’re trading our bricks & mortar for an online platform in order to drive increased revenues for our long term vision. Here are some of the things you’ll want to know:

Shop Hours: The shop is now open weekends only, Friday-Sunday from 10AM-6PM. We plan to wrap up retail operations by the end of July, 2018.

Returns: All purchases made on or after July 6, 2018 are considered final sales. For anything purchased before July 6, we’ll honor returns in accordance with either our existing 60 day return policy or our last day of retail business (est: July 29), whichever is sooner.

Gift Certificates: (the kind printed on an old book page): These will remain in force (no expiration) and can be used for online and mobile purchases, classes & events, and at any future Junket retail locations. You can either come in and take advantage of super-clearance discounts in July, or hang onto them and keep an eye on social media for opps to use them as we temporarily suspend traditional retail operations.

Store credit (the kind we keep with your name on it in a box at the register): during the last 5+ years, our informal store credit box has taken on a life of its own – and as the store itself wraps up, we’re wrapping up the store credit system, as well. If you have won or been given store credit (typically via drawings or no-receipt product returns), please come in and claim it before we close the doors at 4049 Minnehaha at the end of July.

But wait! Where are you going? Great question! We’re not ready to announce this just yet (that whole paperwork thing). We expect to have a lease signed by the middle of July for space in the neighborhood. We do not plan to use the space for retail, but rather as an operations base for online sales, product remanufacture, and general rabble rousing. We’ll share more details as we are able (but we are SUPER DUPER excited about all that is to come!).

Mobile Ops: We primed the pump for roving operations at both Art-A-Whirl and this year’s Maker Faire, and all systems are now go for mobile. We plan to relaunch this channel once our online operations are well established.

How do I stay involved with your efforts? All sorts of ways! We’ll be continuing to share updates via email and social media, and we’ve also established a Facebook Group for those game to provide cheerleading, input, and encouragement as we continue to move this thing forward! If you aren’t already following us on Twitter & Instagram, we’re on both @shopjunket, and you’ll also find Julie at both platforms as @juliejunket.

Classes: Unsurprisingly, we have all sorts of dreams about where we’re going to take this aspect of the business. We expect to add this channel back in (and robustly so) once our online operations are up and running. We even have teachers waiting in the wings (and some other announcements pending). For the moment, however, we’re committed to staying focused on establishing smooth online operations in new digs. One thing at a time.

What about retail? Great question! We’re continuing to explore reestablishing retail in the neighborhood, but for now, we’re not making any promises. We’ve long been interested in pursuing a cooperative franchise model that makes it possible for other would-be entrepreneurs to turn side-gig dreams into reality. We’d love to have Longfellow host the first franchise. But first, we’re focusing on a successful launch of our online shop (which would also enable franchise replenishment…see how this all fits together?). If you’d like to be in the loop as we start this discussion, please join us here.

What about the Vendor Cohort? We are SO PROUD of this crew! If there’s one thing we’ve all continue to learn, it’s that being an entrepreneur often involves responding to the unexpected. Our vendors are in support of these big changes generally, and we’re committed to giving them an entrepreneurial experience that helps them move forward, however they choose to do so. We want to build our online platform to make it possible for vendors to scale and grow through Junket’s online portal. We are in discussions about cooperative retail. We have big ideas about events and classes. We will continue to generate ideas together and see where this adventure takes each and all of us… this crew has been a gift! We will evaluate our readiness for a new November cohort once we’re settled in our new space.

What’s happening to the building? TBH, we’re not sure.

Whatever the outcome of the project going on next door, we take pride in having brokered the arrival of a commercial kitchen in a neighborhood widely recognized as a food desert. It hasn’t been an easy process, and it came with unexpected consequences – but the experience created space and momentum for what’s coming next for Junket, and we’re grateful for the if-unexpected nudge that helped us take this leap.

We’d like to believe that whatever crops up in the space vacated by Junket will also become a neighborhood asset…additional sustainable retail? More four-tops for peak lunchtime? A bigger space for a current biz? Whatever the case, we trust we’re leaving the corner better than we found it (and that others will continue to make it so).

If you’re interested in renting the space or learning more, you can do what we did back in 2012, and send a written inquiry to Terry @ 3620 E 41st St (55406).

How can online ever be as good as an in-store experience? Just as we’re known to place a premium on creating a high quality analog experience, we’re committed to doing right by our online community, as well. There’s also a certain efficiency – and reach – of online commerce when done well – brick & mortar shops are struggling to compete with e-commerce for a reason (it’s SO EASY).

We haven’t found anyone else combining the spirit of helping others make more sustainable choices with the rigor of carbon impact-related data-driven decision making (in fact, we don’t know of anyone else doing the latter at all). SO- we’re going to do the thing we’re not seeing happen elsewhere, we’ll start with good, and then we’ll work toward better.

We’d like to think you’ll be pleasantly surprised… and if you’d like to be involved in helping us level up, we’d welcome your input! Join us here.

Anything else? While we’ve tried to cover all of the bases, we don’t have ESP, and you guys are big thinkers! For any burning, unanswered questions, please hit us up!